Firefighters have to wear many different hats while they are on the job.
They never expected to find themselves in this situation.
And Florida firefighters made one scary discovery in a storm drain that put them in a bad spot.
Massive alligator is found stuck in a Florida storm drain
One of the old urban legends was that alligators were living in the sewers of New York City after they had been released by people who brought them back from Florida as pets.
This of course turned out to be an old wives’ tale.
Firefighters in Cape Coral, Florida ran into a situation that was eerily similar to those tall tales.
A passerby noticed that there was a massive 10-foot, six-inch alligator stuck in a small storm drain in a Cape Coral neighborhood.
The reptile’s snout was seen sticking out of the storm drain.
LATER GATOR 🐊 The massive gator was taken out of the drain by multiple firefighters and an alligator trapper in Cape Coral. Here’s how it went down:https://t.co/UxIbxl2y9y pic.twitter.com/kG5UqjNnwt
— 10 Tampa Bay (@10TampaBay) January 21, 2025
Christa Cole noticed the alligator when she was walking her dog.
“I thought what I heard was the neighbor taking his trash can back up to his house from the night before,” Cole told McClatchy Media.
“And then I heard it again when I turned out of my driveway and walked past the culvert,” Cole continued. “His jaws were sticking out opening and closing. I didn’t even know what to do. We’re around gators all the time fishing but something was different.”
Cole said that her dog was surprisingly calm under the circumstances.
Florida fire department pulls off an alligator rescue
The Cape Coral Fire Department is used to conducting animal rescues, but this was unlike any other they had done before.
A trapper from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission was called in to help them get the alligator out of the storm drain.
The firefighters used a winch on their brush truck to pull the heavy lid off the culvert.
A hook was put around the alligator’s snout to keep its jaws locked by the trapper.
The firefighters worked to carry the massive reptile to the bed of the trapper’s truck.
Florida Fish & Wildlife officials said the alligator was going to be transported to a farm to spend the rest of his days and possibly take part in a breeding program.
The Cape Coral Fire Department pointed out on social media that they are ready to tackle any challenge thrown their way.
“As a firefighter, you are never going to know what you are going to encounter but we are honored to help our Cape Coral community in any way we can,” the Cape Coral Fire Department wrote.
No one was sure how long the alligator was stuck in the storm drain but it was an unusual place to find one in winter.
Alligators typically spend winter in a dormant state because they are cold-blooded.
They start slowing down when the temperature dips below 70 degrees and become entirely dormant under 55 degrees.
“During this time, they can be found in burrows (or ‘dens’) that they construct adjacent to an alligator hole or open water, but they occasionally emerge to bask in the sun during spells of warm weather,” the Florida Fish & Wildlife website stated.
The Cape Coral alligator can live its life in the comfort of a farm after the harrowing experience of being trapped in a storm drain.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.